The broken window theory and fighting corruption in Uganda

Seven months ago, while attending the international anti-corruption day conference in Kampala, organized by the office of the Inspector General of Government (IGG), I noticed that two concerns monopolized the debate.

One was that the fight against corruption has stagnated over the years; and two, that government action against corruption seems to be targeting the small fish only.

The issue of targeting the so-called small fish in the corruption fight has been the focus of study and debate by many scholars, politicians and civil society organizations, all of them criticizing the Government’s anti-corruption efforts in Uganda.

In defence of Government, the IGG, Irene Mulyagonja, used the metaphor of “baby snakes”. She argued that whereas baby snakes look small, they are more dangerous than the adults because they have a higher concentration of venom than adult snakes.

Her arguments motivated me to think more about the rationale behind the small fish targets in the corruption fight. After looking at various works on the issue, I now also argue that we should not undermine corruption efforts targeting the small fish.

In particular, the Broken Window theory of policing is gaining momentum. The theory holds that when we fail to contain small crimes such as breaking a window with a stone, they culminate into large crimes later. That is to say, not fighting the small crimes gives the signal that the system is not watchful or does not care enough even about small issues. Furthermore, it argues that small fractures, when left unchecked, have a snowball effect.

When a small snowball rolls down a snow-covered hillside, it picks up more snow in the process, gaining more mass, surface area and momentum along the way. The credibility of this thinking is now supported by various empirical studies worldwide.

Indeed, corruption in Uganda has been compared to a cancer cell which spreads over time. The consensus across the country is that the corruption and permissiveness we see today in Uganda has not started now. The problem has been rolling from one state to another and getting entrenched in almost all spheres of people’s lives.

People are not born corrupt but from small corrupt events, they learn and develop into super thieves. Therefore, the rationale of going for small fish should be supported. While focusing on mega corruption scandals is important, the small cases of corruption are more dangerous because they grow and once they get entrenched, they become harder to fight.

Thus, we should not minimize the fight of corrupt behaviour at any level, however small. If we fail to prevent corruption now, it will escalate into serious problems, which will be hard to resolve.

In conclusion, the Broken Window theory helps us to understand that a holistic approach to preventing corruption, or any other anti-social or economic behaviour, lies in addressing small issues before they escalate into serious problems.

Therefore, all of us in our various capacities should come out boldly to challenge unwanted behaviour, however minor, in our vicinity. That includes our homes, churches, classrooms and communities. That way, we shall all contribute to the prevention of behaviour that causes the social and economic suffering we are faced with today.

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Most recently, I participated at the Kampala Geopolitics Conference which was hosted at Makerere University. One of my major takeaways from this significant event was how we can harness Africa’s potential through fronting its youth as a major component to drive its transformation.

An analogy was given illustrating the success of the “Black Panther” movie which inspired many youth on how to rethink Africa’s future through fiction and arts.

Much is said about this great award-winning movie which depicts the futuristic kingdom of Wakanda, situated in Africa.

King Tchalla “Chadwick Boseman” who stars in this movie is fronted as an African visionary who leads his people to prosperity through technological innovation.

In as much as this is based on fictional characters, the Black Panther phenomenon reflects how the fourth industrial revolution has disrupted Africa’s economies and way of life. Technology has become part and parcel of how narratives about Africa are being re-shaped.

My question is: How do we scale up the levels of innovation on the continent? How do we support, enable and mentor the youth as Africa’s “vibranium”, (Wakanda’s biggest resource)? Uganda, for instance, has seen a phenomenal increase in innovation hubs which mentor young disruptive technologists.

However, many technologies we are using in Uganda have been adopted from foreign countries with little or no adaptation to our context here and with little regard for the needs of Ugandans. Black Panther shows that we can build something for Africa, by Africans.

We need more Ugandans actively working on development of home-grown technology solutions, on artificial intelligence from a local perspective. At a higher level, disruptive technology will bridge the gap between citizen and governments by enhancing development initiatives, improving communication, building smarter cities and making governments more accountable.

We need to see more of this success reciprocated in many parts of the country, which remains uncovered due to lack of Internet penetration, shortage of IT resources to enable creativity from underserved rural areas.

Our Government and civil society in coalition with the private sector must champion the development of ICT in the country. This is premised on the fact that investing in the youth means investing in the future. Currently, this does not seem to be consistently reflected in political decision-making and policy design.

A key factor for encouraging innovation in the country lies in the ability to provide opportunities to the youth so that they can maximize their potential.

How can we engage,the youth to participate in creating solutions to Uganda’s development challenges? How can decision-making be made more inclusive to youth agency? How can we ensure that policies are more reflective of the needs and aspirations of the younger generation?

Addressing these concerns helps to increase youth ownership in Africa’s development scene. Our leaders and institutions must therefore play a critical role in ensuring that the region’s youth are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that prepare them to become leaders and innovators of the future generation.

Young people can become agents of change, act as catalysts and progressively change the status quo of society. It is essential that all leaders embrace and enable young people to succeed and show them how they can impact the future.

Just as entrepreneurs need mentors to help them develop an idea into a business, our leaders must engage with young people like myself on issues if we want an engaged, active generation of innovators.

Mentorship goes an extra mile in empowering young people to contribute positively to their own development and the economic development of their local communities.

Presently, Uganda’s political scene suggests that there is more to favour the opposition’s advancement towards providing alternative political leadership in Uganda than there has ever been since the inception of Museveni’s NRM regime.

The citizenry’s dissatisfaction with the recent age limit removal amendment, changes in the taxation policy in the face of overwhelming corruption levels in government institutions, recent unaccounted-for killings in the nation, mistrusted electoral processes, to mention a few, serve to show that most of Ugandans crave for a change in the political leadership of the country.

Such an atmosphere, one would think lends credence to Uganda’s political opposition to cause a crucial and desired political revolution in the nation, especially now that Uganda’s opposition seems to comprehend and echoes well the nation-wide longing for political as well as socio-economic transformation.

However, much as it is true that the opposition captures well the yearning of the majority for change in the political governance and is passionate and courageous to push for this cause, the opposition politics as is, can only best be characterised as a politics of emancipation and activism because it fails on a front where it should be strongest: By and large it lacks in solidarity and is more of a politics of ‘heroism’, which idolises personalities and sadly so even at the most crucial and defining moments. It is to be noted that opposition politics is not held together by solid unifying ideology and commitments, but rather revolves around the the given ‘strong man’ at a time.

It can now be confirmed that even the better organised political opposition groupings, ideology and principles only hold to the extent that they facilitate the aspirations and desires of the ‘hero.’ It is also evident that ‘heroes’ will outgrow the ideology and principles they most likely were instrumental in constructing, if they donot serve their interests-noble or selfish.

The hero phenomenon defines not only the ‘heroes’, who are addicted to enjoying the lime-light of their heroism, but even the greater majority who subscribe to the opposition political ideologies.

In effect, majority of Ugandans who subscribe to the opposition are by nature attracted to ‘the personality’ of those they choose to support and not necessarily to the nature of ideology and principles they represent.

For instance, Kyadondo South Member of Parliament, Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi (a.k.a Bobi Wine), who has suffered much at the hands of the current regime, occasioning his rise to prominence both locally and internationally, is now considered the new boy on the block in comparison to Rtd Col Kiiza Besigye. But apart from his wanting to remove Museveni from power and ensure real people participation in their government, he neither leads a unitary political party nor has a definable political ideology for national liberation and transformation but surprisingly, like a cult-leader, his fame seems to be spreading faster than a bush fire and has by now overshadowed all opposition politics in Uganda, and is ostensibly about to bring all opposition strong politicians to bow at his feet. This is bound to have another dividing rather than the desired unifying effect in opposition politics.

This ‘hero-hero worship’ syndrome sadly seems to define all key opposition political figures ranging from Besigye who for the past three presidential elections has been viewed as the only serious Museveni challenger, Mugisha Muntu since he lost the FDC presidency to Amuriat, gradually out-grew FDC constitutional demarcations which he very much defended while still the party president. Since obviously they were unlikely to facilitate ‘his intended future political ambitions’, hehas announced a break away from the party he so much fought to build. He has now formed a new political party that will have more divisive effect inopposition politics.

Furthermore, in the recent troublesome parliamentary by-elections in Bugiri and Arua, key leaders in Uganda’s leading political party–the FDC denied support to their own candidates in favour of independent candidates for just one reason: that the FDC flag-bearer lacked an appealing and heroic personality politically, as was embodied in the candidates they preferred to support, contrary to their party’s policy and the logical expectation to support only candidate sanctioned by the party.

Needless to say, such an approach to politics in a democratic dispensation can by no means bring about the nation-wide desired political and social-economic transformation.

What opposition political groups and individuals need to do at this considerably crucial time is to sacrifice the ‘heroism’ spirit of hinging their politics around the ‘popular-strong man’ political figures and instead seek more the fostering of the ‘solidarity’ spirit.

Undeniably, Uganda’s opposition can be said to understand and possess the desired passion to bring about change in the country, but are lacking in unity which is the power.

The writer is the assistant chaplain and a lecturer at Uganda Christian University

Tanzania and the entire East African region is mourning the enormous loss of human lives when a ferry on Lake Victoria capsized killing most of those on board.MV Nyerere was carrying 400 people, 300 more in excess of its capacity of 100 people at the time of the accident.

Preliminary reports indicate that the accident was caused by overloading the ferry beyond its capacity. This is what happens every day in Uganda, whether on water or road transport.

A year ago, I made a trip to Kalangala aboard MV Kalangala. On my return journey aboard the same ferry, I was terrified by the extent to which the ferry was overloaded. It was packed several times beyond its capacity. There was no space to sit and passengers were standing, packed like beans.

On the cargo section, there were several trucks loaded with fish. I was informed that it is usual for the ferry to be overloaded on Mondays, given that people are returning from a weekend and that there is no other alternative except the public ferry that connects through Masaka, whose situation is even worse.

We spent the entire three hour journey on the lake with our hearts in our mouths. The ferry was unstable and turbulent. Its pipes were submerged as it struggled to navigate the waters in the morning hours with strong waves on Lake Victoria.

When I looked around, I could see only one life jacket hidden under a seat in the first-class section of the ferry. Yes, there were no life jackets on that ferry!

What was rather surprising was that the ticket I was given was from the Ministry of Transport. On board, there were police officers but none of them was bothered as the ferry was being overloaded putting the lives of those on board at risk!

A friend who had previously travelled on the same ferry had warned me. Her experience was rather scary. For her case, the ferry had been overloaded and had to cut short the journey and return to Kalangala after it became apparent that it could not make it to Entebbe.

As we mourn the loss of our Tanzanian brothers and sisters, it is time to rethink safety on our own transport systems.

There is need to develop a diverse, robust and well-regulated water transport on our various water bodies. It is not only ideal for the economy but it also ensures safety. MV Kalangala overloads because of its monopoly. The available alternatives are simple wooden boats which are not safe.

Diversifying water transport may be achieved through creating an enabling environment for private players to embrace the business and through public private partnerships (PPPs).

We need to look at the safety of our transport with a broader view. There are tourists who, despite the congestion on the only MV Kalangala, risk and go to Kalanga to explore the amazing natural beauty that God blessed this country with.

A poor and unsafe transport system discourages tourists, both local and international. It gives the country a bad name. News of fatal accidents can fly across the globe and harm the tourism industry.

The Government has a duty to, and should not only regulate but also enforce the laws to ensure human safety.

Not long ago, it was a requirement that all passenger service vehicles (PSVs) have seat belts and speed governors. All boda boda riders were required to have two helmets-one for the driver and another for the passenger. None of these requirements were enforced beyond two weeks of their declaration. Meanwhile accidents continue costing the country enormous human and other resources.

Laws cannot be enforced without a serious fight on corruption. In most cases, a driver will bribe off a traffic officer. The breach of traffic rules continue because one can buy his or her way out. At 5,000/-a hungryand underpaid police officer is more than willing to let a crowded vehicle pass, sending those on board to harm’s way.

Unless there is a determination for a concerted effort to bring safety to our transport system, incidents like the ferry accident in Tanzania will unfortunately continue.

News

The Democratic Party (DP) President General, Norbert Mao, has slammed Uganda Christian University students over anti-social lifestyles.

“These days people don’t even know their neighbours. I am sure those of you who live in hostels, don’t know who lives in the next room. I’m just telling you that you can’t have a citizenship where people are disconnected. Active citizenship is about strong family bonds and then voluntary associations,” Mao said.

Mao made the remarks while speaking at the 2018 UCU Law Society Symposium, held in Nkoyoyo Hall at the university’s main campus in Mukono on Thursday November 1.

Quoting from Alexis Detocqueville’s book, ‘Democracy in America,’ Mao said: “The current generations would not be able to voluntarily resolve problems in society if they keep relying on government that mostly seek to, “stupify people reducing them to nothing better than flock of timid and industrious sheep.

“I’m told the voter turnout here in the guild elections is very low. I don’t know whether the guild holds general assemblies where you can ask questions to the president! These are rhetorical questions. I’m just telling you that active citizenship is about being part of a community, whether it is a community of a boda-boda association. Why am I saying that? Because citizens must know their interests. And those interests must bring you together,” he said. “Without voluntary associations which connect people to their roots, life is meaningless.”

Mao urged the youths to exercise their voting rights at all levels and also express their opinions in writings, saying literature had such immense power to transform society and settle daily challenges like water shortages, electricity blackouts and poor road conditions.

The event took place under the theme: “The choice of taxing OTT and Mobile Money services as a tool of widening Uganda’s tax base.” It was addressed by several high-profile speakers including Uganda Law Society president, Simon Peter Kinobe, the human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo, NBS television journalist Raymond Mujuni, among others.

Mujuni criticised the government’s move to tax the citizens and not the multinational companies that repatriate billions of shillings to their countries every year. While Opiyo said the move was unconstitutional and in contravention of people’s human rights to freedom of speech, expression and association.

On Friday November 2,Uganda Christian University held its guild general elections for the academic year 2018/19. Students across the university’s five campuses voted for their new leaders to take the positions of Guild Presidents and Members of Parliament.

Bruce Mugisha Amanya emerged the winner for the position of guild president at the university’s main campus in Mukono after scoring at least 1,000 votes, trouncing his closest rival, Phillip Joshua Wanambwa, who scored 876 votes and Charlotte Mbabazi who scored 157.

Amanya said his victory was a result of earlier preparation, including mentorship by the university’s Vice Chancellor in charge of Development and External Relations, Mr David Mugawe.

He said during his tenure as UCU’s Guild President, he would advocate for market-ing of the university’s science courses, more support towards innovation and support for financially disadvantaged students to ensure that they don’t drop out of the university.

Amanya vowed to cut guild trips, especially abroad in order to save money and increase the amounts given to financially challenged students under the students guild fund programme.

On the polls day, there were some scuffles witnessed at a polling station at the Agape square where law and nursing students casted their votes from.

The scuffle arose when the electoral commission barred some students from voting on grounds that they were not fully registered for this semester. The student said, the act was however, contrary to an earlier published information by the commission which indicated that students who are both on and off semester could vote, especially for the position of Guild President.

The situation was, however, contained after a new voters’ list was brought and all students were permitted to exercise their voting rights.

The Electoral Commission’s publicist, Morris Twinamatsiko, said the problem was caused by a wrong list issued to the commission by the academics office which had only students who had fully cleared their tuition.

Amanya was declared winner at 11:45pm by the Commission’s chairperson, Deborah Akiteng. Celebrations erupted among his supporters who in his company immediately went for an after party at Cassablanca, a bar located along Bishop Tucker Road.

The new guild leadership will be sworn in on November 30.

Mbabazi conceded defeat while, Wanambwa said there was open voter bribery, tactical delay by the commission, especially at the law polling station where voting started only minutes before mid-day and even vote-stuffing, that were maliciously neglected by the commission. He, however, said he would not petition the commission but focus on his studies now.

Wanambwa rejects offer

Asked whether he would accept a cabinet offer under the up-coming guild government, Wanambwa said he would not.

“I was seeking to form a driving wheel where I would be the driving wheel rolling the chains but not the chain. To accept to serve under another leader means I will have to abandon my direction of thought which is totally different from his and adopt a new one which I don’t believe in,” Wanambwa said.

He was speaking with The Standard in an interview on Wednesday November 7, at the main campus in Mukono.

“If you are meant to be great, you will always be. If it is about serving the students, I have been serving as Class Rep (representative) until the eve of the elections. I have been and still I am an R.A (Residential Assistant),” he added.

Wanambwa said he is still an active member of several fellowship groups and asso-ciations where he can still invest his leadership skills and continue to serve the students without contradicting his belief.

His rejection follows an earlier suggestion by the Guild President-elect, Bruce Mugi-sha Amanya, who told The Standard in an interview on Saturday, November 3 that he was considering absorbing his rivals into his government since they all had expressed interest in serving the students.

“To my colleagues I hope they will accept the appointments in good faith if they come because they had all expressed interest in serving the students and I believe we should work together,” Amanya said.

However, Charlotte Mbabazi, said she would take the offer if given because she is, “a leader whose only focus is to serve.”

Basoga Nseete Students Association are the winners of the 2018 Uganda Christian University (UCU) Students’ Cultural Gala.

The association was pronounced winner at the event held on Saturday, October 20 at Nkoyoyo Hall, after garnering 414 marks out of 500. They beat their closest rivals and defending champions, the Acholi students community, with a meagre two marks.

Celebrations among members of the winning team erupted around Nkoyoyo Hall as soon as the announcement was made.

Brian Wabwire, the Basoga Nseete association’s chairperson, said the victory was a resurrection of their group, having had some crises and missed the gala for the last two years.

“We feel blessed by the victory. We had been down for the last two years and the spirit of identifying ourselves as Basoga had really disappeared. But with this win, we are proud again to identify ourselves as Basoga,” Wabwire said.

He attributed their victory to tireless efforts put by the participants, team spirit and the broad nature of the Basoga culture that cannot be exhausted within a short time.

Wabwire encouraged students from the other tribal associations to focus, plan ahead, work hard and unite so that they may also taste the joy of such victory in future.

Before their disqualification in 2016, Basoga Nseete was a two-time winner of the gala in 2014 and 2015.

At least 13 cultural groups participated in this year’s gala, including the international students who were the last in the queue. Third in performance were the Bakonjo, followedby theLangi and the Baganda settled for the fifth position.

The Cultural Gala, themed, “The Road to Cultural Marriage” was opened by the Busoga Kingdom Attorney General, Robert Kafuko.

Kafuko advised parents to play their roles fully in raising children.

“Partners should sit down and agree on how do to do this,” Kafuko said.

The first performance on the stage was a poem performed in Atesot. After the poem, the Basamia went on stage for their folk song. Among the other performers, came the Acholi with a cultural mime. The Bakonjo did a traditional song and the Bamasaba did a poem though there was a bit of confusion between the participants.

The Baganda performed a folk song that caused excitement in the audience because one of the characters dressed like “Bosco” of the popular MTN advert. The Karimojong also presented a traditional dance that caused excitement from the crowd because of their dance moves.

The International students led by the Congolese showcased their cultural dress while the Nigerians did a poem. This is the first time the international students performed in the Cultural Gala.

Among the awards given was the Outstanding Performer. This was taken by Charity Auma from Lango. She was crowned ‘Miss Culture.’ ‘Mr Culture’ was Ivan Masaba from Busoga. The best actor was Erodad Nemo from Busoga and the best actress was Peace Buraka from Kasese.The best male dancer was Asuman Kizito from Buganda. The other participants who won some prizes were Rachael Akello, Derrick Abaro Orana, Williamson Barongo, and Steven Muhangi.

While delivering their verdict, the five adjudicators commended the student community for keeping the gala traditional even amidst heavy forces of evolution. Alison Nadungu, one of the adjudicators, said, “Africans are the only people who were not allowed to evolve naturally due to colonial interruption.”

Nadungu said now that Africans have the chance to get back to their roots, they should do more research about their cultures anddo everything within their power to sustain and promote the cultures.

The Director of Students’ Affairs, Olive Birabi Ayo, also told the students that there is something special about every culture that must be observed and appreciated.

Ayo encouraged students who missed participating in this years’ event to consider doing so in the future as a way of identifying with their culture and showing pride.

The guild Minister for Cultural Affairs, Solomon Egwar, described the event as a “success” and “one of the best in the history of UCU” because of the theme of cultural marriage which he said many students identified with.

Egwar said, unlike in the past years when the post-event period would be marred by complaints, this year’s event has registered only one complaint from the Nkobazambogo, the Buganda students’ association, which alleged that they deserved a better position than they got. Nkobazambogo were put in the fifth position after the Bakonjo (third position) and Langi (fourth position).

He said this was because of the independent nature of the external adjudicators whose jurisdictions were also limited to only one activity per person.

Egwar thanked the university authorities for all the support for the gala and urged them to consider, in future, releasing the themes for the event early enough in order to give students enough time to prepare.